"Hmm . . ." The Question fingered the irregular, convex bulges now marring the reinforced steel door. "Cutting it a little close, Blue Beetle."
"I didn't see you doing anything better," Beetle returned, setting the jury-rigged communicator aside as he listened to the metallic footsteps now retreating down the hall.
"That was . . ." Captain Atom took a breath. ". . . interesting. How'd you stop it?"
"I hacked into the main system and erased us." Seeing Captain Atom's blank expression, Blue Beetle added, "I deleted all the security tapes and logs that recorded our presence and replaced them with previously recorded information that showed normal activity. A simple copy and paste operation, actually . . ."
"Where are we, anyway?"
"Hang on . . ." Beetle fiddled with the communicator and after a second the overhead lights flared to life. "See for yourself."
Captain Atom turned in a slow circle. The racks that he had observed earlier, in half-darkness, all held . . . "Mops? Brooms? Is . . . is that a vacuum cleaner?"
"Welcome to one of the Watchtower's many broom closets," Beetle said. "The only place I could think of without a security system."
"We're in an oversized closet?" Captain Atom asked incredulously. "How'd you even know about this place?"
"Ah . . . well . . ." Beetle took up a slightly defensive tone. "I got a look at it a while ago when I was . . . helping out the JLA."
Captain Atom looked at him. "Helping them how?"
"Helping them . . . clean," Blue Beetle said, sounding somewhat irritated, then added, "It was Booster's fault."
Nate put two and two together. "They put you on probation, didn't they? How did you manage that? Neither of you are even members of the Justice League any more!"
"We're still reserve members, thank you very much!"
"But what did you actually do?"
"Oh, it was this whole teleporter-courier service thing. Blue and Gold Delivery Service . . . 'When it absolutely, positively has to be there in six seconds.'"
"So you ripped off the JLA's teleporter technology and used it for a private delivery system," Captain Atom translated. "Until the JLA dragged you in by your ear."
"It was Booster's fault!"
Nate raised an eyebrow. "Booster was the one who hijacked the JLA's technology? Booster was the one who reprogrammed the teleporter software?"
"Booster," Blue Beetle said with dignity, "was the one who got caught."
"Uh . . . huh." Captain Atom decided not to press the point. "So now I guess it's just a matter of waiting," he changed the subject.
"Waiting?"
"For the JLA."
"Mm-hm. Don't know why they didn't notice us; we must have set off a dozen alarms . . ."
"Maybe," the Question said in his soft, uneven voice, "they did notice."
Both Captain Atom and Blue Beetle turned towards the overturned box on which he was perched.
"What do you mean 'maybe they noticed'?" Blue Beetle demanded. "We could have been killed a dozen times over!"
"Yes."
"That's ridiculous," Captain Atom said after he'd digested the inference.
"Of course it is." Blue Beetle glared at the Question. When his business went bankrupt, the League had tided him over. When Doomsday knocked him into a coma, the League had cared for him. It had been his home for a long, long time. "Why are you here, Question? Trying to conquer the world like every other megalomaniac?"
The Question looked towards Beetle with a slight crease above his eyesockets suggesting a frown. "I've seen too much of the world," the Question said, "to want it."
"What DO you want, then?" Captain Atom repeated Beetle's question.
"To save the world. Naturally."
"From . . . ?"
"The JLA," he said as though it should be self-evident.
"I think you're confused," Captain Atom said, in a calm voice obviously meant to humor the Question. "Look, if we just walk out the door and go to the monitor womb, I'm sure the Justice League will be glad to hear your suggestions for--"
"Let's wait until I get the automated defenses permanently shut down before we go anywhere, okay?" Blue Beetle interrupted. "Right now they're only dormant because I've deleted our existence, so to speak. We step under the video cameras and this whole mess starts again. As for you," he gave the Question a look from behind his goggles, "great plan. Yeah, let's try to take out the JLA, the team that saves the world once a month."
"Nothing wrong with stopping alien invasions and such," the Question said, holding up a hand in acknowledgement of Beetle's point. "But it's a matter of trust."
"You don't trust the JLA?" Beetle cocked an eyebrow.
"You do?"
"Of course I do." Honestly, the man really was insane. "Maybe I'm just a reserve member these days, but I'm still a Leaguer. The League is . . ." Beetle twirled the paperclip he'd used to reprogram the communicator. "It's like family. A dysfunctional family, granted, but--"
"Your League was like family, Blue Beetle," the Question said, crossing his arms. "The JLI. Justice League International. But who is left from it? On active duty," he added as Beetle opened his mouth. "No one. All dead or disbanded."
"So what? Sure, the roster's changed again but it's still the Justice League . . ."
"Is it?"
"What do you mean by that?" asked Captain Atom, who had been standing with his arms crossed, glancing between the two.
"The new members were all chosen," the Question observed, "by Batman."
"Well, why not?" Beetle asked. Batman had led "his" League, as the Question put it, for several months. And a very effective leader he'd been, too. No sense of humor, unfortunately, and he'd had both Booster and Beetle on probation almost permanently (which had been Booster's fault . . . mostly), but in a crisis Bats always got the job done. "Why not Batman?"
Unexpectedly, the silver-skinned captain cleared his throat. "Well, Batman isn't exactly the most . . . well-balanced person, is he? I mean," he added, "he is a vigilante."
Blue Beetle looked at him coldly. "I'm a vigilante."
"But you're not exactly Batman, are you? And by that I mean," he added hastily as Beetle stared at him expressionlessly, "that you don't stay in the shadows as much. You're not an urban legend. People know who you are."
"Some people know me better than others, apparently," Beetle said, his eyes narrowed and his goggles gleaming under the fluorescent lights. "And I hate to break it to you, but we're all vigilantes. Nobody handed Superman or the Flash--any of the Flashes--or Green Arrow a badge or a license, but I've never heard any of the people they saved complain about it. In fact, I can't think of any superheroes who are government approved . . ." He paused a beat. "Except you, of course, Captain."
"The Flash--the youngest Flash, the most recent one--worked for the IRS for a bit, actually," Captain Atom said in a stiff voice. "And all I was trying to say was that Batman always seemed very . . . driven. Obsessed. He isn't--wasn't--normal."
"Says the man encased in stainless steel."
"That's not what I meant and you know it."
"Oh, I do, do I? So what would you suggest, oh Silver Savior? You want the old JLA to pop up and second-guess the Bat's choices? Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but Wonder Woman, Superman, and the rest are all dead--"
"But the JLA survives," the Question said softly.
"The JLA is dead, long live the JLA," Blue Beetle shrugged.
"Heard that phrase before. An observation that the institution outlives the individual . . . "
"No--it's an observation that the individual needs the institution," Captain Atom frowned.
"Like you need the Army, Captain?"
"Air Force; mostly I work with the Air Force. No, not quite the same thing." He sounded depressed. "But the world does need the Justice League."
Blue Beetle nodded authoritatively. "Right. Exactly."
"Hn."
"Batman still wouldn't be the one I'd let choose the candidates," Captain Atom continued, "but done is done, and at least we have a League again. And the good roster seems good enough."
"Is it?"
"'Is it?' 'Do you?' 'Wait, maybe the JLA let the Watchtower try to fry us down to our atoms on PURPOSE!'" Beetle mimicked. "You have problems, you know that?"
"I know. Oh, I know." The Question was holding that flat, rectangular package again, absent-mindedly flexing it in his hands just enough so that the light shifted on the slick black garbage bag wrapped around it.
The room lapsed into an uncomfortable silence.
"You know Green Arrow?" the Question asked at last. "The archer."
"The first one, Ollie? I met him a couple times, but I wouldn't say I know him . . ." Captain Atom said cautiously.
"Impression?"
"Ah . . ." Captain Atom's brow furrowed. "Let's see . . . the first time I met him was when we were planning an offensive during that big alien invasion a couple years back. He, um, called me a nickel-plated fascist. And a government stooge. I got the impression he was like that with everyone, though." But he looked discomfited.
"A high-strung man. Passionate. Dangerous. Dead."
"Ah . . . excuse me?" Blue Beetle raised an eyebrow. "He sure didn't look dead at that press conference."
"Dead," the Question repeated. "Came back to life."
"Oh . . . that. That was months ago. Get with the times, Question."
The Question tilted his head towards the blue-clad superhero who so casually disregarded death. "Not exactly a common occurrence, Blue Beetle."
"Tell it to Superman. At least Benjamin Franklin was half right; taxes are still a certainty."
"Resurrection . . . not so common for non-metas," the Question pointed out. (Humans with the meta-gene had the potential to develop powers when exposed to certain stimuli. Metahumans got hit by lightning and became super-fast or gained the attributes of gods; non-metahumans got hit by lightning and died.) "Green Arrow was a man with a bow. Hardly guarantees a two-way ticket."
"So he's the exception that proves the rule," Beetle said. "The JLA--the Big Seven JLA--met him and gave him their stamp of approval. What more do you want?"
"Proof that he is who he says, maybe?" The Hub City vigilante crossed his arms and somehow gave the impression that he was raising one eyebrow behind his mask.
"The JLA already did that," Blue Beetle said in a slow, clear voice, the way people do when they're trying to explain something very simple to someone who isn't that bright.
"Hrm." The Question leaned back in his trenchcoat. "I don't trust dead men."
"Well, yay for you," Blue Beetle said. He suddenly remembered something Black Canary had once told him. "Didn't you used to team up with Green Arrow? Did you try to meet him and find out if he's really Ollie?"
"We fought together a few times," he said as though he were reluctant to admit it. "But Oliver was too soft, in the end. Didn't realize how deep the shadows lie. Even after Coast City."
Something about the way the Question hissed the last words sent a shiver down Beetle's spine. He started casting around for a way to change the subject. "What about you, Cap?" he asked lightly. "Ever had your ticket punched?"
He didn't really expect a meaningful response to his enquiry, but Captain Atom shifted and looked embarrassed. "Once," he said at last. "Only for a half hour."
Beetle raised a critical eyebrow, then decided that Atom was really too serious to joke about something like that. Or much of anything, for that matter. "So what's the afterlife like?" he asked, curious in spite himself.
"I don't really remember much of it." The government superhero looked thoughtful. "I think I grew a beard." And then, not noticing Blue Beetle's disbelieving stare, he added in a mutter, "Pants. Death came for me and I still didn't have pants."
That, Blue Beetle thought, was a conversation killer if he ever heard one. The room lapsed into silence again.
Captain Atom brooded over his near-death experience for a few minutes before turning to the Question. "Why all this concern over Green Arrow? Even if he really is an imposter he is, like you said, just a man with a bow. He'd be easy to stop."
"He's part of the League now. Batman's League. With access to the Watchtower. With access to weapons. With access to files. This doesn't concern you?" When Captain Atom didn't answer right away, he added, "Batman knew how to kill you, Captain."
Captain Atom stared at him with his pupilless yellow eyes. "What?"
"Batman," the Question repeated in his calm, uneven voice, "knew how to kill you. Not the word he would use, of course. 'Incapacitate', no doubt. But the same gist. If he knew how to stop Superman and Wonder Woman, he knew how to stop you. Permanently, if needed."
Nate shifted uncomfortably. "If you're talking about the JLA's trouble with . . . protocols . . . last July--"
"Don't usually pay much notice to that sort of thing," the Question said, "but it caught the attention. The Flash caught in a fit of hypersonic epilepsy. The Martian's skin peeling as it caught fire. Wonder Woman hallucinating, heart overstimulated. Green Lantern blinded. Plastic Man broken. Aquaman hydrophobic. And Superman . . ." The vigilante paused. "The Dark Knight was handy with his kryptonite compounds, certainly. Batman triumphant."
"It was my understanding," Captain Atom said slowly, "that it was actually the eco-terrorist Ra's al Ghul who temporarily took down the JLA."
"The malice was Ra's al Ghul's, but the plans, the resources . . . all the Bat's."
"Yeah, but stolen from him by Ra's," Beetle pointed out.
"Must have been gratifying for him to see that his theories were sound."
"More gratifying than waking up one day and discovering that we have another Hal-Jordan-turned-Parallax on our hands and no way to stop him!"
"It's a moot point, isn't it?" Captain Atom said, wishing once again that he were still in bed, buried under a warm cascade of blankets. "Batman is dead."
"Batman is dead." The Question agreed, absently kicking his heel against the box he was sitting on. "But. 'The JLA is dead, long live the JLA.' And who chose the new Justice League?" He waited for an answer and when none came he continued, "If the Batman had protocols for his JLA, he had them for you, Captain. And for Power Girl. And for Black Canary. Doctor Fate. Captain Marvel. Sentinel. Probably non-metas too--Wildcat, Blue Beetle, myself . . ."
Captain Atom heard Beetle mutter, "I hope he started with you," but the comment was half-hearted.
"The question is not whether you trusted Batman," the faceless man said. "But whether you trust plans detailing your weaknesses in the hands of someone who may or may not be Green Arrow."
"Even if it isn't Ollie, the rest of the JLA is there to keep an eye on him," Blue Beetle protested.
"Ah. And who is 'the rest of the JLA'? Faith--a complete unknown. Jason Blood--a man constantly fighting his inner demon. Firestorm--"
"Leave Ronnie out of this; he's a good kid," Captain Atom said sharply.
"Firestorm is one of the most down-to-earth superheroes I know," Beetle agreed. "I'm sorry, but I just can't picture him waking up one day and saying, 'Hey, that Metamorpho guy is stealing my thunder with his element-transmuting powers! It's time I did something about it!'"
"Could you picture it more easily," the Question asked, "if he were drunk?"
Unbidden, Nate found himself remembering Firestorm screaming through the sky at breakneck speed, slowed only by the weaving of his flight, before crashing, skidding into a hillside. He had hurried over to see what was wrong with the flame-headed young hero. Firestorm had stared up at him, his costume in tatters and his face bruised and bloodied from his landing. But the thing that Nate remembered most clearly was the sour smell of alcohol on Firestorm's breath as he whispered, "I need help . . ."
"Firestorm had some . . . problems . . . but he got help," Beetle said quietly, halfway echoing Captain Atom's thoughts.
"When Batman's probe tracked him down to invite him to the Watchtower, he was on his college campus," the Question said. "At a kegger."
"He was--? I don't believe it," Captain Atom said. "No, I can't accept that."
"Accept what you want. What about Major Disaster? Not just a member of the former Injustice League, but its leader--"
"Well, no argument there. That guy is a menace," Blue Beetle said. "But not a menace the way Brainiac or Despero is a menace. Ohhhh no, it's worse than that. He screws up everyone around him whether he's trying to or not. Major Disaster is right; I've NEVER seen anyone with a more appropriate codename. Well . . . maybe Impulse . . ." he said as an aside.
Privately, Captain Atom thought that Beetle was still feeling wrathful towards Major Disaster for his part in bankrupting one of Blue and Gold's get rich quick schemes. It had happened years ago, of course, but time could only do so much to lessen the sting of losing millions upon millions of dollars. Still and all . . . "The man is a known criminal," Captain Atom agreed. "Not only did Justice League International fight him, but he was wreaking havoc in Gotham just a couple years ago--"
"In a rare display of competence," Beetle said. "And that is the worst part. Even if he's on the level these days--and let me say that I am unconvinced--he's so hopelessly inept that he's a hazard to be around. Remember when he and his buddies wanted to go straight and join the JLI? They managed to screw up a mission that consisted of sitting around in a bunker in Antarctica! Antarctica!" he repeated incredulously. "I mean, how is that even possible??"
"Yeah, I don't know," Captain Atom said.
"Hm. The question is . . . do you trust him with your lives?"
Blue Beetle crossed his arms and frowned at the floor while Captain Atom looked at the figure soaking up the shadows in the folds of his trenchcoat.
"More important: Do you trust him with the fate of the world?"
After a moment's pause, Captain Atom said, "Maybe--" just as Blue Beetle started, "Well--" They both stopped.
Beetle motioned for Captain Atom to speak first, so the silver-skinned hero cleared his throat. "Maybe . . . we should talk this out a little more," he said. Blue Beetle's expression was carefully neutral, but he nodded in concession.
"No objection," the Question agreed without moving, without giving a sign that he cared one way or another.
But Nate had the strangest feeling he was being confronted with a faceless smile.